Agfa Graphics Japan announced today that Beniya Offset Co., Ltd. has started full-scale operation of Azura TS chemistry-free thermal printing plates with Agfa Graphics’ Quick Dry Printing technique. By using Azura in web-offset presses, Beniya Offset found that the significant ink and water reductions also resulted in huge energy savings.

Mr. Imai, President of Beniya Offset and Chairman of the Nippon Web-Offset Printers Association, is very enthusiastic: “We set-up our web-offset presses based on Agfa’s Quick Dry Printing and started using Azura TS on press. From the beginning we used far less water and ink than ever before. As a result it was also possible to lower the temperature of the dryer substantially and thus to save on energy costs. We had full support of our staff; they are all impressed by the results of this implementation.”

Mr. Tim Van den Bossche, Vice President Global Marketing & Strategy, Agfa Graphics added: “Like Beniya Offset, the whole web-offset printing industry in Japan has extremely tight quality expectations and it is a team achievement that the chemistry-free Azura plates have been accepted in this industry. This will be looked at closely by the rest of the world."

Quick Dry Printing is an advanced technique, developed by Agfa Graphics, to raise the efficiency on press. The flat substrate of Agfa Graphics' Azura plates allows for dedicated press settings, resulting in a higher performance and consistently better print quality. The result is a drastic reduction in water, ink and energy use. The technique is extremely successful in Japan, where it was tuned to the local market expectations. The introduction of the Quick Dry Printing program in the web-offset printing industry follows the successful Quick Dry Printing program for sheet-fed offset, which has been adopted by many commercial printers in Japan in the meantime.

At the international Page 2014 Press Conference Mr. Imai and Mr. Van den Bossche both elaborated on how the introduction of Azura TS and Quick Dry Printing in web-offset printing brings advantages in terms of sustainability and drives the printing industry towards new opportunities.